CN111903473A

CN111903473A - Energy-saving environment-friendly crop irrigation device

Info

Publication number: CN111903473A
Application number: CN202010840114.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 覃海莲; 汪翠容; 陈其志
Original assignee: Dongguan Ronggong Automation Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Dongguan Ronggong Automation Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-08-20
Filing date: 2020-08-20
Publication date: 2020-11-10

Abstract

The invention discloses an energy-saving environment-friendly crop irrigation device, which comprises a bottom plate, a water tank, a spraying mechanism and a winding mechanism, wherein four corners of the bottom end of the bottom plate are respectively provided with a fixing bolt, and the bottom ends of the bottom plates at the two sides of the fixing bolt are respectively provided with a fixing pin, one side of the top of the bottom plate is provided with a frame body, a partition board is arranged in the middle of the frame body, a water tank is fixed on the bottom plate below the partition board, a stirring paddle is arranged in the middle of the water tank, this energy-saving environmental protection crops irrigation equipment through being provided with sprinkler structure, all is equipped with the shower nozzle of three kinds of different specifications on every sprinkler structure, and the last soil moisture sensor that is equipped with of sprinkler structure detects farmland soil's humidity at any time, and control sprinkler structure selects suitable shower nozzle to spray according to the actual lack of water condition of soil, improves the utilization ratio of water for the device is more energy-concerving and environment-protective.

Description

Energy-saving environment-friendly crop irrigation device

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of agricultural irrigation, in particular to an energy-saving environment-friendly crop irrigation device.

Background

The agriculture is the industry that utilizes the growth and development law of animals and plants, obtain the product through artificial cultivation, the agriculture belongs to first industry, the science of research agriculture is the agriculture, the work object of agriculture is living animals and plants, the product that obtains is animals and plants itself, the agriculture is the basic industry that provides support national economic construction and development, need the sprinkling irrigation in the agricultural plant growth process, the sprinkling irrigation is with the help of water pump and pipe-line system or the drop that utilizes natural water source, water with certain pressure sprays to the air, scatter into the dribble or form the water spray and fall the irrigation mode on the plant and subaerial.

The existing sprinkling irrigation device only has one spray head and only one irrigation mode, and can not automatically adjust the sprinkling irrigation mode according to the actual needs of crops, so that the water consumption is large, the utilization of water is low, the sprinkling irrigation device is an unreasonable agricultural irrigation mode, and the sprinkling irrigation device is not energy-saving and environment-friendly.

Disclosure of Invention

Aiming at the defects of the prior art, the invention provides an energy-saving environment-friendly crop irrigation device, which solves the problems in the background art.

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention is realized by the following technical scheme: an energy-saving environment-friendly crop irrigation device comprises a bottom plate, a water tank, a spraying mechanism and a winding mechanism, wherein fixing bolts are installed at four corners of the bottom end of the bottom plate, fixing pins are arranged at the bottom ends of the bottom plates on two sides of the fixing bolts, a frame body is installed at one side of the top of the bottom plate, a partition plate is installed at the middle position of the frame body, the water tank is fixed on the bottom plate below the partition plate, a stirring paddle is installed at the middle position inside the water tank, a stirring motor is installed on the partition plate above the stirring paddle, the output end of the stirring motor is connected with the stirring paddle through a rotating shaft, a control box is installed at one side of the top of the partition plate, a mounting frame is fixed at the other side of the top of the partition plate, a liquid adding barrel is installed on the mounting frame, the, a water pump is fixed on the bottom plate between the support frame and the water tank, a flow control valve is installed on one side of the top of the support frame close to the water tank, a distribution pipe is installed on one side of the top of the support frame far away from the water tank, a limiting plate is installed at the bottom end of the spraying mechanism, supporting columns are installed at two ends of the top of the limiting plate, hinged seats are installed at the top ends of the supporting columns, installation seats are hinged between the hinged seats, motors are installed inside the installation seats, rotary sleeves are installed outside the installation seats, the output ends of the motors are connected with the rotary sleeves through rotating shafts, installation hoops are arranged on one sides of the rotary sleeves far away from the supporting columns, clamping plates are evenly installed on the inner side walls of the installation hoops through springs, connecting pipes are fixed inside the installation hoops, spray heads are evenly installed at the output ends of the connecting, all install the sub-controller on the support column of spraying mechanism one end, and one side of spraying mechanism all installs soil moisture sensor, soil moisture sensor's output all passes through the input electric connection of wire with the sub-controller, and the output of sub-controller all passes through the input electric connection of wire with the diverter valve.

Optionally, the top of support body is fixed with solar cell panel, and the support body top of solar cell panel below evenly installs the battery, solar cell panel's output passes through the photovoltaic controller and is connected with the input electricity of battery.

Optionally, wire winding mechanism is installed to the one end of water tank, and is fixed with the inlet tube on the water tank of wire winding mechanism top, wire winding mechanism includes wire winding pole, wire reel and handle, the position department that the water tank is close to wire winding mechanism has seted up the mounting groove, and the internally mounted of mounting groove has the rotary disk, the rotary disk is connected with the wire winding pole, and the end and the wire reel of wire winding pole are connected, the periphery of wire reel is fixed with the handle, and the handle is mutually perpendicular with wire reel place plane.

Optionally, the input of water pump leads to pipe and is linked together with the water tank, and the output of water pump leads to pipe and is connected with flow control valve's input, flow control valve's output leads to pipe and is connected with the input of distributing pipe, and the distributing pipe is equipped with a plurality of delivery ports, and every delivery port all is connected through the bottom of hose and connecting pipe.

Optionally, the top end of the mounting seat is uniformly provided with a ball groove, balls are arranged in the ball groove, the cross section of the ball groove is designed in a three-fifths circular arc shape, and the shape of the ball groove is matched with the balls.

Optionally, the inside wall of swivel sleeve all is provided with rotatory strip, and the mount pad outside is close to the position department of rotatory strip and all offers the identical rotatory groove with rotatory strip shape, the cross-section of rotatory strip is the wedge design.

Optionally, the connecting pipe all is "form design, and the external diameter of connecting pipe all is less than the internal diameter of installation hoop, the outer wall and the splint of connecting pipe are laminated mutually.

Optionally, splint are circular-arc design, and splint all constitute elastic construction design, every through spring and installation hoop all evenly be provided with three splint in the installation hoop.

Optionally, the spray heads comprise a large spray head, a medium spray head and an atomization micro spray head, the three spray heads with different specifications are switched through a switching valve, and the spray heads are in threaded connection with the connecting pipe.

The invention provides an energy-saving environment-friendly crop irrigation device, which has the following beneficial effects:

1. this energy-saving environmental protection crops irrigation equipment, through being provided with sprinkling mechanism, sprinkling mechanism can set up a plurality ofly, directly place the regional central authorities at required irrigation, all be equipped with the shower nozzle of three kinds of different specifications on every sprinkling mechanism, be equipped with soil humidity transducer in the sprinkling mechanism, detect the humidity of farmland soil at any time, and with signal transmission to sub-controller, the sub-controller can control the diverter valve from this and switch, select suitable shower nozzle to spray according to the actual lack of water condition of soil, improve the utilization ratio of water, make the device more be energy-concerving and environment-protective.

2. This energy-saving environmental protection crops irrigation equipment through being provided with motor, swivel sleeve and miniature hydraulic telescoping rod for the angle of shower nozzle can freely be adjusted, has increased the sprinkling irrigation scope of device.

3. This energy-saving environmental protection crops irrigation equipment through installing solar cell panel and battery for the device does not need extra power supply, convenient to use, and energy-concerving and environment-protective.

4. This energy-saving environmental protection crops irrigation equipment can be with longer inlet tube winding on the wire winding pole through being provided with wire winding mechanism, realizes adding water at any time when conveniently irrigating to accomodating of inlet tube.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic front sectional view of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of the spraying mechanism of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the mounting base of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural view of the winding mechanism of the present invention.

In the figure: 1. fixing the bolt; 101. a fixing pin; 2. a base plate; 3. a frame body; 4. a stirring paddle; 5. a water tank; 501. mounting grooves; 6. a water pump; 7. a support frame; 8. a solar panel; 9. a storage battery; 10. a partition plate; 11. a flow control valve; 12. a distribution pipe; 13. a support pillar; 14. a mounting seat; 1401. a ball groove; 1402. a rotating tank; 15. a rotating sleeve; 1501. rotating the strip; 16. a connecting pipe; 17. a sub-controller; 18. a soil humidity sensor; 19. a spraying mechanism; 1901. a limiting plate; 20. a control box; 21. a stirring motor; 22. a water inlet pipe; 23. a winding mechanism; 2301. a wire winding rod; 2302. a wire spool; 2303. a handle; 24. a liquid adding barrel; 25. a mounting frame; 26. installing a hoop; 27. a micro hydraulic telescopic rod; 28. a hinged seat; 29. a motor; 30. a splint; 31. a switching valve; 32. a spray head; 33. a ball bearing; 34. and rotating the disc.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments.

In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified; the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "inner", "outer", "front", "rear", "head", "tail", and the like, indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, are only for convenience in describing and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred devices or elements must have a specific orientation, be constructed in a specific orientation, and be operated, and thus are not to be construed as limiting the present invention, and furthermore, the terms "first", "second", "third", and the like are only used for descriptive purposes and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

In the description of the present invention, it is to be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "connected" and "connected" are to be interpreted broadly, e.g., as being fixed or detachable or integrally connected; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate, and those skilled in the art will understand the specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention in specific situations.

Referring to fig. 1 to 5, the present invention provides a technical solution: the utility model provides an energy-saving environmental protection crops irrigation equipment, comprising a base plate 2, the water tank 5, spraying mechanism 19 and winding mechanism 23, fixing bolt 1 is all installed to four corners of 2 bottoms of bottom plate, and 2 bottoms of bottom plate of 1 both sides of fixing bolt all are provided with fixed pin 101, support body 3 is installed to one side at 2 tops of bottom plate, and the intermediate position department of support body 3 installs baffle 10, the top of support body 3 is fixed with solar cell panel 8, and the 3 tops of support body of solar cell panel 8 below evenly install battery 9, solar cell panel 8's output passes through photovoltaic controller and is connected with battery 9's input electricity, solar cell panel 8 and battery 9's design, make the device need not additionally supply power, directly utilize solar energy, it is more energy-concerving and environment-protective.

Be fixed with water tank 5 on bottom plate 2 of baffle 10 below, and the inside intermediate position department of water tank 5 installs stirring rake 4, wire winding mechanism 23 is installed to the one end of water tank 5, and be fixed with inlet tube 22 on the water tank 5 of wire winding mechanism 23 top, wire winding mechanism 23 includes wire winding pole 2301, wire reel 2302 and handle 2303, mounting groove 501 has been seted up to the position department that water tank 5 is close to wire winding mechanism 23, and the internally mounted of mounting groove 501 has rotary disk 34, rotary disk 34 is connected with wire winding pole 2301, and wire winding pole 2301's end is connected with wire winding pole 2302, the periphery of wire winding pole 2302 is fixed with handle 2303, and handle 2303 is perpendicular with the plane phase that the wire winding pole belongs to, the design of wire winding mechanism 23, make device 2302 can be on wire winding pole 2301 with longer inlet tube 22, realize accomodating inlet tube 22, add water at any time.

A stirring motor 21 is arranged on a partition board 10 above the stirring paddle 4, the output end of the stirring motor 21 is connected with the stirring paddle 4 through a rotating shaft, a control box 20 is arranged on one side of the top of the partition board 10, a mounting rack 25 is fixed on the other side of the top of the partition board 10, a liquid adding barrel 24 is arranged on the mounting rack 25, the bottom end of the liquid adding barrel 24 is communicated with a water tank 5 through a guide pipe, a support frame 7 is arranged on the other side of the top of a bottom plate 2, a water pump 6 is fixed on the bottom plate 2 between the support frame 7 and the water tank 5, the input end of the water pump 6 is communicated with the water tank 5 through a water pipe, the output end of the water pump 6 is connected with the input end of a flow control valve 11 through a water pipe, the output end of the flow control valve 11 is connected with the input end of a distribution pipe 12 through, several groups of spraying mechanisms 19 are arranged, and the distributing pipe 12 with several water outlets is selected, and the water tank 5, the water pump 6, the flow control valve 11, the distributing pipe 12, the connecting pipe 16 and the spray head 32 form a liquid spraying channel integrally, so that the liquid can flow more smoothly.

Flow control valve 11 is installed to one side that the support frame 7 top is close to water tank 5, and distribution pipe 12 is installed to one side that water tank 5 was kept away from at support frame 7 top, limiting plate 1901 is all installed to the bottom of spray mechanism 19, and support column 13 is all installed at the both ends at limiting plate 1901 top, articulated seat 28 is all installed on the top of support column 13, and all articulated between the articulated seat 28 have a mount pad 14, ball groove 1401 has evenly been seted up on the top of mount pad 14, and ball 33 is all installed to the inside of ball groove 1401, the cross-section of ball groove 1401 is three fifths circular-arc design, and the shape of ball groove 1401 is identical with ball 33, ball 33 and the design of ball groove 1401 can convert the sliding friction between mount pad 14 and the swivel nut 15 into rolling friction, thereby reduce frictional resistance, make swivel nut 15 rotate more smoothly.

Motor 29 is all installed to the inside of mount pad 14, and swivel sleeve 15 is all installed in the outside of mount pad 14, swivel sleeve 15's inside wall all is provided with rotatory strip 1501, and the position department that the mount pad 14 outside is close to rotatory strip 1501 all sets up the identical swivelling chute 1402 with rotatory strip 1501 shape, rotatory strip 1501's cross-section is the wedge design, rotatory strip 1501 can carry on spacingly with swivelling chute 1402 design to swivel sleeve 15, make it can't control from top to bottom and remove, only can rotate around mount pad 14, it is rotatory more stable, difficult emergence is rocked or is come off, the security of use is higher.

The output end of the motor 29 is connected with the rotating sleeve 15 through the rotating shaft, one side of the rotating sleeve 15 far away from the supporting column 13 is provided with the installation hoop 26, the inner side wall of the installation hoop 26 is uniformly provided with the clamping plate 30 through the spring, the connecting pipe 16 is fixed inside the installation hoop 26, the connecting pipe 16 is in a shape design, the outer diameter of the connecting pipe 16 is smaller than the inner diameter of the installation hoop 26, the outer wall of the connecting pipe 16 is attached to the clamping plate 30, the shape design enables the connecting pipe 16 to be just inserted into the installation hoop 26 and cannot fall off under the action of gravity, the outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the installation hoop 26 facilitates the insertion of the connecting pipe 16 into the installation hoop 26 for fixation, the installation is more convenient, the attachment design enables the clamping plate 30 to compress the outer wall of the connecting pipe 16, the connecting pipe 16 is firmly fixed, the connecting.

Splint 30 is circular-arc design, and splint 30 all hoops 26 through spring and installation and constitutes the elastic construction design, all evenly be provided with three splint 30 in every installation hoop 26, three design can press from both sides tightly connecting pipe 16 in the three direction of connecting pipe 16 lateral wall, the effect of centre gripping is better, and circular-arc design more laminates with the connecting pipe 16 outer wall, the centre gripping effect is better, the elastic construction design makes connecting pipe 16 be convenient for install and dismantle, it is more convenient to use.

The shower nozzle 32 is all evenly installed to the output of connecting pipe 16, and the junction of connecting pipe 16 and shower nozzle 32 all is provided with diverter valve 31, shower nozzle 32 includes big shower nozzle, medium-sized shower nozzle and the little shower nozzle of atomizing, and switch through diverter valve 31 between three different specification shower nozzles 32, be threaded connection between shower nozzle 32 and the connecting pipe 16, three kinds of shower nozzles 32 design makes the device can select suitable shower nozzle 32 to spray according to the actual lack of water condition of soil that detects, improve the utilization ratio of water, make the device more energy-concerving and environment-protective.

All install sub-controller 17 on the support column 13 of 19 one ends of spraying mechanism, and all install soil moisture sensor 18 in one side of spraying mechanism 19, soil moisture sensor 18's output all through wire and sub-controller 17's input electric connection, and sub-controller 17's output all through wire and diverter valve 31's input electric connection.

In conclusion, when the energy-saving environment-friendly crop irrigation device is used, the storage battery 9 supplies power to the device, the device is fixed to a proper position by the fixing bolt 1 with barb and the fixing pin 101, then the spraying mechanism 19 is placed in the center of an area to be irrigated by the limiting plate 1901 of a pile to be fixed, the connecting pipe 16 is connected with the water outlet of the distributing pipe 12 by the hose, the spraying mechanism 19 can be provided with a plurality of groups, then the water tank 5 is filled with water, when the device is used, proper humidity is set on the control box 20 according to different requirements of different periods of crop development, the soil humidity sensor 18 can detect soil humidity in real time, information is transmitted to the sub-controller 17, the sub-controller 17 is in signal connection with the control box 20, the sub-controller 17 controls the switching valve 31 to select a proper spray head 32 for sprinkling irrigation according to the humidity information transmitted by the soil, the control box 20 controls the water pump 6 to work, the flow control valve 11 controls the water flow in the water pipe, the water is conveyed to the connecting pipe 16 through the hose and then is sprayed out by the spray head 32 to fall to the farmland, the micro hydraulic telescopic rod 27 works during sprinkling irrigation to drive the mounting seat 14 to rotate in the vertical direction, thereby driving the spray head 32 to rotate in the vertical direction, the motor 29 works to drive the rotary sleeve 15 to rotate, thereby the spray head 32 rotates in the horizontal direction, the spraying range is enlarged, when in use, the water inlet pipe 22 can be used for adding water into the water tank 5, when need not adding water, can hold handle 2303 and rotate wire reel 2302, make inlet tube 22 twine on wire reel 2301, accomplish taking in of inlet tube 22, still can utilize during the use to add required liquid fertilizer of crops growth or pesticide in to water tank 5 with liquid bucket 24, can spray together with water after stirring the mixing through stirring rake 4.

The above description is only for the preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art should be considered to be within the technical scope of the present invention, and the technical solutions and the inventive concepts thereof according to the present invention should be equivalent or changed within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. The utility model provides an energy-saving environmental protection crops irrigation equipment, includes bottom plate (2), water tank (5), spraying mechanism (19) and winding mechanism (23), its characterized in that: fixing bolts (1) are installed at four corners of the bottom plate (2), fixing pins (101) are arranged at the bottoms of the bottom plates (2) on two sides of each fixing bolt (1), a frame body (3) is installed at one side of the top of each bottom plate (2), a partition plate (10) is installed at the middle position of each frame body (3), a water tank (5) is fixed on the bottom plate (2) below each partition plate (10), a stirring paddle (4) is installed at the middle position inside each water tank (5), a stirring motor (21) is installed on each partition plate (10) above each stirring paddle (4), the output end of each stirring motor (21) is connected with each stirring paddle (4) through a rotating shaft, a control box (20) is installed at one side of the top of each partition plate (10), a mounting frame (25) is fixed at the other side of the top of each partition plate (10), a liquid adding barrel (24), and the bottom of liquid feeding bucket (24) is linked together through pipe and water tank (5), support frame (7) are installed to the opposite side at bottom plate (2) top, and be fixed with water pump (6) on bottom plate (2) between support frame (7) and water tank (5), flow control valve (11) are installed to one side that support frame (7) top is close to water tank (5), and support frame (7) top keep away from one side of water tank (5) and install distributing pipe (12), limiting plate (1901) are all installed to the bottom of spraying mechanism (19), and support column (13) are all installed at the both ends at limiting plate (1901) top, articulated seat (28) are all installed on the top of support column (13), and all articulate between articulated seat (28) and have mount pad (14), motor (29) are all installed to the inside of mount pad (14), and swivel sleeve (15) are all installed in the outside of mount pad (14), the output end of the motor (29) is connected with the rotary sleeve (15) through a rotating shaft, one side of the rotary sleeve (15) far away from the supporting column (13) is provided with a mounting hoop (26), the inner side wall of the mounting hoop (26) is uniformly provided with a clamping plate (30) through a spring, and the inside of the mounting hoop (26) is fixed with a connecting pipe (16), the output ends of the connecting pipe (16) are all uniformly provided with spray heads (32), and the connection part of the connecting pipe (16) and the spray head (32) is provided with a switching valve (31), a sub-controller (17) is arranged on the supporting columns (13) at one end of the spraying mechanism (19), and one side of the spraying mechanism (19) is provided with a soil humidity sensor (18), the output ends of the soil humidity sensors (18) are electrically connected with the input end of the sub-controller (17) through leads, and the output ends of the sub-controllers (17) are electrically connected with the input end of the switching valve (31) through leads.

2. The energy-saving and environment-friendly crop irrigation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the solar photovoltaic support is characterized in that a solar cell panel (8) is fixed to the top end of the support body (3), a storage battery (9) is evenly installed on the top end of the support body (3) below the solar cell panel (8), and the output end of the solar cell panel (8) is electrically connected with the input end of the storage battery (9) through a photovoltaic controller.

3. The energy-saving and environment-friendly crop irrigation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein: wire winding mechanism (23) are installed to the one end of water tank (5), and are fixed with inlet tube (22) on water tank (5) of wire winding mechanism (23) top, wire winding mechanism (23) are including wire winding pole (2301), wire reel (2302) and handle (2303), mounting groove (501) have been seted up to position department that water tank (5) are close to wire winding mechanism (23), and the internally mounted of mounting groove (501) has rotary disk (34), rotary disk (34) are connected with wire winding pole (2301), and the end of wire winding pole (2301) is connected with wire reel (2302), the periphery of wire reel (2302) is fixed with handle (2303), and handle (2303) are perpendicular with wire reel (2302) place plane looks.

4. The energy-saving and environment-friendly crop irrigation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the input of water pump (6) leads to pipe and water tank (5) are linked together, and the output of water pump (6) leads to pipe and is connected with the input of flow control valve (11), the output of flow control valve (11) leads to pipe and is connected with the input of distributing pipe (12), and distributing pipe (12) are equipped with a plurality of delivery ports, and every delivery port all is connected through the bottom of hose and connecting pipe (16).

5. The energy-saving and environment-friendly crop irrigation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the ball groove (1401) is evenly formed in the top end of the mounting seat (14), balls (33) are mounted in the ball groove (1401), the cross section of the ball groove (1401) is in a three-fifths circular arc shape, and the shape of the ball groove (1401) is matched with the balls (33).

6. The energy-saving and environment-friendly crop irrigation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the inner side wall of the rotating sleeve (15) is provided with a rotating strip (1501), a rotating groove (1402) matched with the rotating strip (1501) in shape is formed in the position, close to the rotating strip (1501), of the outer side of the mounting seat (14), and the cross section of the rotating strip (1501) is in a wedge-shaped design.

7. The energy-saving and environment-friendly crop irrigation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the connecting pipes (16) are designed in a shape of a Chinese character 'zhang', the outer diameters of the connecting pipes (16) are smaller than the inner diameter of the mounting hoop (26), and the outer walls of the connecting pipes (16) are attached to the clamping plates (30).

8. The energy-saving and environment-friendly crop irrigation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein: splint (30) are circular-arc design, and splint (30) all constitute the elastic construction design through spring and installation hoop (26), every all evenly be provided with three splint (30) in installation hoop (26).

9. The energy-saving and environment-friendly crop irrigation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the spray head (32) comprises a large spray head, a medium spray head and an atomizing micro spray head, the three spray heads with different specifications are switched through a switching valve (31), and the spray head (32) is in threaded connection with the connecting pipe (16).